If you prefer to view some of the
stories that were presented last summer, from Hypertextopia, check out these:

The Life I (Never)
Lived – James Richards (2 votes)

Jamie the Bullfrog

A Saturday Seminar

Doom’s Day Dream

The Sailor’s
Lament (2 votes)

My Heart

The Office of the
Living Dead (2 votes)

My Brown Purse

A Bottle of Beer

Random Guy on an
Island

Also, here’s a list of Hypertext
literature in various “genres” (autobiography, drama, fiction, mysteries,
nonfiction, poetry) along with critical commentary and related resources, from
Brown University.Please browse
according to your interests @
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/ht/htlitov.html

Third, this might be the time to also consider “Fan Fiction,” even though it is
not (often) hypertext.Begin by
checking out Wikipedia’s explanation of “Fan Fiction” @
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction

This might look and feel a bit
like Twitter – or not? – but please refresh your experience with Twitter @
http://twitter.com/

Fifth, another person in class just emailed me about “Writing.com.”Here’s what he had to say:

“As I was perusing the contents of
the digital literature compendium I thought of an additional website I would
suggest but forgot to mention in class.The website is writing.com, a site that allows for anyone to post written
works.Although payment is required
for higher premiums most users may post a few works for free.As such the site contains various examples of electronic lit, including
fan fiction, short stories, poems, and most notably an interactive story
function, where readers may follow prompts to continue aspects of the story and
end their passages with options for the next writer to follow.The site may be a little difficult to navigate but I figured you might be
interested. See you next class.”

Sixth, explore one or more of these “digital writing tools” that you might use
one day to create your own multimodal digital storytelling and/or hypertext
literature.There are plenty of
“tutorials” on the web for how to do this, and the two wikis listed on the
“Digital Storytelling” PDF also have instructions and suggestions.

Finally, when you have finished browsing all of the above links, please answer
the following questions and BRING your responses with you to class.Your responses can be either typed or hand-written, and they can be in
“rough-draft” prose.I’m more
interested in your ideas than in grammar, etc.!

Wrap-Up Writing for Hypertext Storytelling/Literature:

1.)
What is the best thing that you read/viewed today, and why?(Be sure to include the title and web address of the site!)Be prepared to show and talk about this in class!

What
you liked about it

What
you think it might "mean" or why you think it was created

Any
of the elements of fiction that are particularly noteworthy

How
it relates to your life, and possibly how it might relate to ours

How
it connects to any of the other selections we've read in class

2.)
What is the worst thing that you read/viewed today, and why?(Be sure to include the title and web address of the site!)

3.)
Add to our collective body of knowledge of “Hypertext Literature,” “Fan
Fiction,” “Digital Writing Tools,” and ANYTHING ELSE RELATED by listing one or
more sites, tools, etc. that YOU visit/read/view frequently, and be prepared to
talk about these sites in class.It
can be anything!You are the expert
here!

4.) “Microcontent”
is defined by Bryan Alexander and Alan Levine – in the “Web 2.0 Storytelling”
article – as “small chunks of content, with each chunk conveying a primary idea
or concept” (42).What is your
opinion on the ideal length of each piece of microcontent in hypertext
literature?

5.)
How many “choices” should each piece of microcontent give a reader?In other words, how many hyperlinks should there be in a piece of
microcontent?One?Two?Three?More?What is your ideal
number?At which point do you
become “overwhelmed” with choices?

6.)
What is your opinion about the “non-linearity” of hypertext literature?Can/do you get the same sense of “arrangement” or “structure” in
hypertext literature as you get in traditional (linear, chronological) fiction?Or is the point that we don’t, or can’t, or shouldn’t be able to get this
overall sense?Is there a point for
you at which frustration with this sets in, or not?

7.)
As Kevin Brooks – in another article about hypertext writing – points out,
hypertext literature often relies on other forms/genres even as it is making its
way to something “new.”Pick ONE
(1) story that you viewed today, name it, and then try to “link it” to something
else you/we are familiar with: a traditional story, a TV show, a magazine, a
movie, etc.

8.)
What are your overall impressions of hypertext storytelling/literature?Does it have value?(How?Why or why not?)Does this
kind of storytelling deserve a place in this class?(Why or why not?)Will you
explore hypertext storytelling/literature further?(Why or why not?)